Bit 15
Drunk, Cynthia used to watch shooting stars
Drunk,
Cynthia used to watch shooting stars. Generally she'd be
lying in the sand behind the City Scape Bar and Grill,
having arrived there in a state of inebriety just minutes
before. Zigzagging along the twenty or thirty feet from
the sidewalk to the water's edge, she'd fall onto her back
and use her hands as a cushion. The soft, wet sand
supporting her aching back, the drunken lady would ever
hear the gentle sounds of the water lapping against the
shore and the winds tearing up the not-too-faraway slopes
of Mount Pelion. On good nights, those sounds would drown
out the noises of the after-hours festivities coming from
within the bar.
During one such night, Cynthia counted
twenty-seven of the fiery stars before she lost consciousness.
While living in New York
City, her stargazing would occur on a black tar roof seven stories above
Hell's Kitchen. There, since it was
virtually impossible to see any celestial bodies at all, Cynthia would
imagine what the stars looked like streaking across the light-black sky.
Then, after compassionate unconsciousness relieved her, Cynthia would sleep
until early the next morning. Upon waking she’d have just enough time
to fumble down stairs and get ready for work.
By that time, Patrick was always hard at
work at his typewriter.Next: Bit 16
Before he won the
Pulitzer, Patrick
